Harry Potter Book One
by Angel-Jin
Summary: During Harry's fourth year Severus Snape finds seven very interesting books. What happens when Snape, Harry, and a few others read them?
1. Prolog: The Room of Requirement

Harry Potter Book One Angel Jin Rated: T

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoat Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Summary: During Harry's fourth year Severus Snape finds seven very interesting books. What happens when Snape, Harry, and a few others read them?

Warnings: Dumbledore, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Molly, and Arthur bashing. Light yaoi, some fluff, and use of course words.

Parings: Harry/Cedric and others undetermined at this time.

Notes: I've been reading a lot of fanfics where the Harry Potter characters read the Harry Potter books, and I thought that I would try writing one. This story takes place in fourth year so that Cedric doesn't die. **Bold text is the Harry Potter books.** Normal text is my story. Normal underline is notes from the Room of Requirement. In this chapter any text from the Harry Potter books will have parts missing. I would like to apologize in advance for any misspellings; I have dyslexia so I don't always catch spelling errors.

* Page Break * Page Break * Page Break * Page Break *

Harry Potter Book One Prolog: The Room of Requirement

Severus Snape hated having to teach those dunderheads that other teachers called students. If it weren't for a promise that he made to his best friend he wouldn't even be here. But he made a promise to her that he would protect her son. _'What I'm protecting him from, I'm not sure. He's a spoiled brat just like his father, but sometimes he has so much of his mother in him. Albus says that he's treated like a king by his family whenever he's home and everyone in the Wizarding Word treats him as if he can do no wrong. So I have to treat him poorly so that he doesn't get a swelled head, right?'_

Turning a corner Severus realized that he was in a part of Hogwarts he had never been in. He was in a corridor with no windows or doors. Just a long empty corridor, dimly lit by flickering candles. Turning around he started to walk back the way he had come when he heard Karkaroff talking to Krum and coming towards him, so he turned back the other way. He had taken all of five steps when he heard another voice. Peeves.

Two thoughts were running through his mind. The first was to find a way to learn the truth about Harry's life. The second was to find a way to get away from Karkaroff and he really didn't want to deal with Peeves. Severus turned in a circle to see if he had missed a door, maybe another corridor, anything to help him hide and to his great surprise he saw a silver door that seemed to be glowing.

In a choice between Karkaroff, Peeves, and a glowing door; Severus would take the door. So he opened the door, slide inside, and closed the door behind him. Just in time too because in the next second he could hear Karkaroff and Krum talking about the tournament before they both stopped talking to let out shocked gasps. Severus was sure that Peeves had dropped water balloons on them. That thought was confirmed when they both started muttering under their breath about stupid ghosts.

It was with a smirk that Severus turned around to see what was in this strange room. The only thing in the room was a podium. He walked over to the podium and sitting on it were seven books. Picking up the first one he read the title. **Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone**, were these books the key to understanding Harry's life? He wished that he had a clear answer when suddenly a note appeared from nowhere. Picking the note up Severus read it. These seven books are what Dumbledore wants Harry's life to be. I'm going to let you take them with you in the hopes that you will not let this happen. You have to help him. Keep him safe; just like you promised.

After reading the note twice Severus then said, "Yes well, I'm glad to be given this opportunity, but how am I meant to get the books from here to my chambers without anyone seeing them?" Again a note appeared from nowhere.

There's a white door to your left. It leads directly to your chambers. The door will stay there until you have finished all seven books. There are a few people that I want you to have with you when you read the books. They are Harry Potter, Cedric Diggory, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Lucius Malfoy, Draco Malfoy, Fred Weasley, and George Weasley. Do you think you can handle that?

"Their being present for the reading of the books, will it help Harry?"

This time there was no new note. Instead the note that Severus held in his hand glowed a soft gold as the words that were written on it previously shifted and changed to form new words. If those people are with you when the books are read, then yes it will help Harry. But if anyone else is there or not all of those people are there, it could harm Harry. Harm him to such a point that nothing could ever heal him. You must be very careful.

Severus felt that he must be going crazy. He was talking to a room and the room was answering back. Even worse, the room was making a lot of sense. Once again the words on the note he still held once again started to shift until the note now said, Why yes, I do make a lot of sense. "Fine, you win! How should I go about getting them all to this room or my chambers?"

You needn't worry about that. All I needed was for you to agree. I will give the others their own door. And before you even ask, these doors are special. Only the person that is meant to see them can see them. I want you all here tomorrow night.

"You sure are bossy for a room. I'll do my best to have them all here. The mutt and wolf will be the hardest as I don't know where they are. I'll send Lucius an owl as soon as we're done here. Let see, that just leaves Harry, Draco, Diggory, and the Weasley twins. I'll just give each of them a detention tomorrow."

Good, leave Sirius and Remus to me. I know just how to get them here. Now go, send your owl. Whatever you do be careful.

With a scowl on his face Severus stalked over to the white door and slowly pulled it open. Sure enough, it led directly into his chambers. Casting a quick tempus, he saw that he had only an hour and a half to send his owl and make it to the Great Hall. With a sigh Severus sat done and started to write his letter to Lucius.

Lucius,

It is of grave importance that you come to Hogwarts tomorrow. You will need to Floo directly to my chambers. Do not, under any circumstance, tell your wife that you're coming here. If you do, someone could be harmed to such a point that nothing could ever heal them.

I can't tell you much in a letter, but I can tell you that this involves Draco. It is unclear at this point as to whether or not Draco is in any danger. In fact, all I know is that you, Draco, myself, and six others have to be at Hogwarts and in the same room by tomorrow night.

Your friend,

Severus

Severus set his quill down, it wasn't much but it would have to do. He sealed the letter and took off for the Owlery.

* Page Break * Page Break * Page Break * Page Break *

Severus barely made to the Great Hall in time. As he sat through the Halloween feast he tried to think of a reason to give Harry, Draco, Diggory, and the Weasley twins detention. So far he hadn't come up with anything. That's when Dumbledore stood.

**"Well, the goblet is almost ready to make its decision," said Dumbledore. "I estimate that it requires one more minute. Now, when the champions' names are called, I would ask them please to come up to the top of the Hall, walk along the staff table, and go through into the next chamber" – he indicated the door behind the staff table – "where they will be receiving their first instructions."**

Dumbledore then put out all but the candles in the pumpkins. Time seemed to drag on and on, until the flames inside the goblet turned red and sparks began to fly from it. It shot out a piece of paper. The Durmstrang champion was Krum. Then came the next piece of paper; the Beauxbatons champion was the Delacour girl. Then, finally, came the last piece of paper; Hogwarts champion was Diggory. When the Hall was almost silent Dumbledore started to speak.

**"Excellent!" Dumbledore called happily as the last of the tumult died down. "Well, we now have our three champions. I am sure I can count upon all of you, including the remaining students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, to give your champions every ounce of support you can muster. By cheering your champion on, you will contribute in a very real –"**

Dumbledore stopped talking as the goblet turned red again and shot out another piece of paper. Dumbledore just stood there, staring at the paper before clearing his throat and reading out –

**"Harry Potter."**

* Page Break * Page Break * Page Break * Page Break *

Later as he sat in his room Severus could have hit himself. He was still trying to think of a way to give all five boys detention when his personal house elf had popped in with chocolate cake. He sat there and stared at Keely before he said, "Keely, would you please go collet Messrs Potter, Malfoy, Diggory, and the Weasley twins; without anyone else knowing?" Keely nodded and disappeared with a crack.

Just as Keely left Severus's room his fire place roared to life with green flames and Lucius stepped through. "What is so important that you need me here? And why did I have to Floo directly to your chambers?"

"I'll tell you once Keely comes back with the others. For now, please just have a seat."

One at a time Keely brought the boys to Severus's room, starting with Diggory then Draco who was followed by the Weasley twins. And just as Keely brought Harry back to the room with her, a door appeared in the middle of the room. It opened to reveal the mutt and wolf. "What are we doing here? Snape! What did you do?"

"Sirius, please. Professor Snape is only trying to help us, help me. Please, I'm the fourth Triwizard champion."

That stopped Sirius making his jaw snap shut. Remus turned to Severus and in a whisper asked, "You're going to help Harry with the tournament?"

"I plan on helping him with more than just the tournament. Seven books have come into my possession. These books are about the life that Harry will have if it's left to Dumbledore. I've been told that the nine of us have to read them. Just the nine of us, no one else came be present for the reading. Now we can either read them in here or we can go into the room through that door."

"And who exactly told you that we have to read said books?" Sirius asked with a sneer on his face.

"That's a long story. One that I will happily explain later; for now let's just make a decision as to where we'll be reading these books."

"I think that it would be best if we stayed in here for now."

"Really, Harry; you're going to trust him?"

"Yes! Did you know that professor Snape saved my life and has been looking out for my safety since I got here? I trust him with my life. We're going to read the books, and we're going to read them in here to start with!"

Harry then turned to look at the twins who held their hands up in defense and said together, "Hey, don't give us that look. You know that we follow you. You want to read the books, we'll read the books."

Before they could look at him Draco said, "I'm willing to read the books."

Cedric didn't say anything, he just nodded his head; an action that was repeated by Lucius and Remus. Sirius let out a defeated sigh and said, "If Harry wants to read the books then I'll stay. But I'll warn you right now, the second I think that any of you are trying to hurt him, I'll take Harry and leave."

"Very well mu-, Sirius. I'll start the reading; I suggest that you all take a seat." Once they were all seated he picked up the first book and read, "**Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone."**

* Page Break * Page Break * Page Break * Page Break *

A.N. – Okay, so please let me know what you think. I'll try to have the next chapter up in two to four weeks.


	2. Chapter One: The Boy Who Lived

Harry Potter Book One Angel Jin Rated: T

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoat Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Summary: During Harry's fourth year Severus Snape finds three complete books and one partially complete book. What happens when Snape, Harry, and a few others read them?

Warnings: Dumbledore, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Molly, and Arthur bashing. Light yaoi, some fluff, and use of course words.

Parings: Harry/Cedric and others undetermined at this time.

Notes: This story takes place in fourth year so that Cedric doesn't die. **Bold text is the Harry Potter books.** Normal text is my story. Normal underline is notes from the Room of Requirement. In this chapter any text from the Harry Potter books will have parts missing. I would like to apologize in advance for any misspellings; I have dyslexia so I don't always catch spelling errors. I won't always say who says what.

* Page Break * Page Break * Page Break * Page Break *

Harry Potter Book One Chapter One: **The Boy Who Lived**

**Chapter one, The Boy Who Lived. ****Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.**

"You're very welcome." Fred said.

**They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense.**

"Of course they don't. I mean, imagine if they held with nonsense. The horror!" George exclaimed, his hands clutching his heart in fake fright.

**Mr. Dursley was the director of a firm called Grunnings, which made drills.**

"What's a drill?" It may have been Draco that asked but all the purebloods looked curious as well. "If you make a list of things that you're curious about, I tell you what they are at the end of each chapter." Harry told them with a laugh.

**He was a big, beefy man with hardly any neck, although he did have a very large mustache. Mrs. Dursley was thin and blonde and had nearly twice the usual amount of neck, which ****came in very useful as she spent so much of her time craning over garden fences, spying on the neighbors.**

"What a horrible woman!"

**The Dursleys had a small son.**

"Small! There's nothing small about him!"

**Called Dudley and in their opinion there was no finer boy anywhere.**

**The Dursleys had everything they wanted, but they also had a secret, and their greatest fear was that somebody would discover it.** **They didn't think they could bear it if anyone found out about the Potters.**

"What's bad about the Potters? They were and are a good family. They always believe in doing what's right." This was said by Cedric who smiled at Harry.

**Mrs. Potter was Mrs. Dursley's sister, but they hadn't met for several years; in fact, Mrs. Dursley pretended she didn't have a sister.**

"Harsh much?"

**Because her sister and her good-for-nothing husband were as unDursleyish** **as it was possible to be. The Dursleys shuddered to think what the neighbors would say if the Potters arrived in the street.** **The Dursleys knew that the Potters had a small son, too, but they had never even seen him. This boy was another good reason for keeping the Potters away; they didn't want Dudley mixing with a child like that.**

"A child like what, exactly?" The twins growled.

**When Mr. and Mrs. Dursley woke up on the dull, gray Tuesday our story starts, there was nothing about the cloudy sky outside to suggest that strange and mysterious things would soon be happening all over the country.** **Mr. Dursley hummed as he picked out his most boring tie for work, and Mrs. Dursley gossiped away happily as she wrestled a screaming Dudley into his high chair.**

"What a brat."

**None of them noticed a large, tawny owl flutter past the window.**

"You should always be aware of what's happening around you."

**At half past eight, Mr. Dursley picked up his briefcase, pecked Mrs. Dursley on the cheek, and tried to kiss Dudley good-bye but missed, because Dudley was now having a tantrum and throwing his cereal at the walls.**

"Are you sure that you're related to this brat?" Fred asked, followed by George shaking his head and saying, "There's no way Harry's related to any of them."

**"Little tyke."**

"Again, he is _not_ little!"

**Chortled Mr. Dursley as he left the house. He got into his car and backed out of number four's drive.**

**It was on the corner of the street that he noticed the first sign of something peculiar - a cat reading a map.** **For a second, Mr. Dursley didn't realize what he had seen - then he jerked his head around to look again. There was a tabby cat standing on the corner of Privet Drive, but there wasn't a map in sight. What could he have been thinking of? It must have been a trick of the light. Mr. Dursley blinked and stared at the cat. It stared back. As Mr. Dursley drove around the corner and up the road, he watched the cat in his mirror. It was now reading the sign that said Privet Drive - no, looking at the sign; cats couldn't read maps or signs.**

"It's most likely an animagus."

**Mr. Dursley gave himself a little shake and put the cat out of his mind. As he drove toward town he thought of nothing except a large order of drills he was hoping to get that day.**

"Talk about having a one track mind."

**But on the edge of town, drills were driven out of his mind by something else. As he sat in the usual morning traffic jam, he couldn't help noticing that there seemed to be a lot of strangely dressed people about. People in cloaks.**

"What's wrong with cloaks?"

With a laugh Harry replied, "Muggels don't ware cloaks unless it's Halloween."

**Mr. Dursley couldn't bear people who dressed in funny clothes - the getups you saw on young people! He supposed this was some stupid new fashion. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and his eyes fell on a huddle of these weirdos standing quite close by.** **They were whispering excitedly together. Mr. Dursley was enraged to see that a couple of them weren't young at all; why, that man had to be older than he was, and wearing an emerald-green cloak! The nerve of him! But then it struck Mr. Dursley that this was probably some silly stunt - these people were obviously collecting for something... yes, that would be it.** **The traffic moved on and a few minutes later, Mr. Dursley arrived in the Grunnings parking lot, his mind back on drills.**

"Wow, he sure has a one track mind."

**Mr. Dursley always sat with his back to the window in his office on the ninth floor. If he hadn't, he might have found it harder to concentrate on drills that morning. He didn't see the owls swooping past in broad daylight, though people down in the street did; they pointed and gazed open-mouthed as owl after owl sped overhead. Most of them had never ****seen an owl even at nighttime.** **Mr. Dursley, however, had a perfectly normal, owl-free morning. He yelled at five different people. He made several important telephone calls and shouted a bit more.**

"What does your uncle do? Cause from the sound of it, it's his job to yell at people."

"You know what, I don't really know."

**He was in a very good mood until lunchtime, when he thought he'd stretch his legs and walk.**

"What? He never walks anywhere! Fat whale that he is."

**Across the road to buy himself a bun from the bakery.**

"Oh. That makes sense."

**He'd forgotten all about the people in cloaks until he passed a group of them next to the baker's. He eyed them angrily as he passed. He didn't know why, but they made him uneasy. This bunch were whispering excitedly, too, and he couldn't see a single collecting tin. It was on his way back past them, clutching a large doughnut in a bag, that he caught a few words of what they were saying.**

"**The Potters, that's right, that's what I heard –"**

" **- yes, their son, Harry"**

**Mr. Dursley stopped dead.** **Fear flooded him. He looked back at the whisperers as if he wanted to say something to them, but thought better of it.**

**He dashed back across the road, hurried up to his office, snapped at his secretary not to disturb him, seized his telephone, and had almost finished dialing his home number when he changed his mind. He put the receiver back down and stroked his mustache, thinking... no, he was being stupid.**

"He admits it!" Harry yelled and started to do a little dance in his seat.

**Potter wasn't such an unusual name. He was sure there were lots of people called Potter who had a son called Harry. Come to think of it, he wasn't even sure his nephew was called Harry.** **He'd never even seen the boy. It might have been Harvey. Or Harold.**

"He doesn't even know your name! What a horrible man. Family is the most important thing in the world."

"Um, are you okay Mal- Draco? You're starting to sound like you don't hate me."

"What? Yes, I'm fine."

**There was no point in worrying Mrs. Dursley; she always got so upset at any mention of her sister. He didn't blame her - if he'd had a sister like that...** **but all the same, those people in cloaks...**

**He found it a lot harder to concentrate on drills that afternoon and when he left the building at five o'clock, he was still so worried that he walked straight into someone just outside the door.**

**"Sorry,"**

"You mean he knows that word!"

**He grunted, as the tiny old man stumbled and almost fell.** **It was a few seconds before Mr. Dursley realized that the man was wearing a violet cloak. He didn't seem at all upset at being almost knocked to the ground. On the contrary, his face split into a wide smile and he said in a squeaky voice that made passersby stare, "Don't be sorry, my dear sir, for nothing could upset me today! Rejoice, for You-Know-Who has gone at last! Even Muggles like yourself should be celebrating, this happy, happy day!"**

**And the old man hugged Mr. Dursley around the middle and walked off.**

"How? His arms couldn't have possibly fit."

**Mr. Dursley stood rooted to the spot. He had been hugged by a complete stranger. He also thought he had been called a Muggle, whatever that was. He was rattled. He hurried to his car and set off for home, hoping he was imagining things, which he had never hoped before, because he didn't approve of imagination.**

"Well that's smart. NOT!" Fred started to which George finished, "Poor Harry, you got stuck with them."

**As he pulled into the driveway of number four, the first thing he saw - and it didn't improve his mood - was the tabby cat he'd spotted that morning. It was now sitting on his garden wall. He was sure it was the same one; it had the same markings around its eyes.**

**"Shoo!" said Mr. Dursley loudly. **

"Like that'll work," Cedric said and got a laugh from the other teens in the room.

**The cat didn't move. It just gave him a stern look.** **Was this normal cat behavior? Mr. Dursley wondered. Trying to pull himself together, he let himself into the house. He was still determined not to mention anything to his wife.**

"Yes, because keeping secretes from your spouse is the right thing to do," Lucius sneered.

**Mrs. Dursley had had a nice, normal day. She told him over dinner all about Mrs. Next Door's problems with her daughter and how Dudley had learned a new word ("Won't!").**

"Pot- Harry, your cousin is a worse brat than I am."

**Mr. Dursley tried to act normally. When Dudley had been put to bed, he went into the living room in time to catch the last report on the evening news:**

**"And finally, bird-watchers everywhere have reported that the nation's owls have been behaving very unusually today. Although owls normally hunt at night and are hardly ever seen in daylight, there have been hundreds of sightings of these birds flying in every direction since sunrise. Experts are unable to explain why the owls have suddenly changed their sleeping pattern." The newscaster allowed himself a grin.** **"Most mysterious. And now, over to Jim McGuffin with the weather. Going to be any more showers of owls tonight, Jim."**

**"Well, Ted,"** **said the weatherman, "I don't know about that, but it's not only the owls that have been acting oddly today. Viewers as far apart as Kent, Yorkshire, and Dundee have been phoning in to tell me that instead of the rain I promised yesterday, they've had a downpour of shooting stars! Perhaps people have been celebrating Bonfire Night early - it's not until next week, folks! But I can promise a wet night tonight."**

**Mr. Dursley sat frozen in his armchair.** **Shooting stars all over Britain. Owls flying by daylight. Mysterious people in cloaks all over the place. And a whisper, a whisper about the Potters . . .**

"You know; I would have thought that the Wizarding World would have been more careful in their celebrating."

"Normally we would have been. We were in shock so we weren't as careful."

**Mrs. Dursley came into the living room carrying two cups of tea. It was no good. He'd have to say something to her. He cleared his throat nervously. "Er - Petunia, dear - you haven't heard from your sister lately, have you?"**

**As he had expected, Mrs. Dursley looked shocked and angry. After all, they normally pretended she didn't have a sister.**

"That's pleasant," Cedric said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

**"No," she said sharply. "Why?"**

**"Funny stuff on the news," Mr. Dursley mumbled. "Owls... shooting stars... and there were a lot of funny-looking people in town today..."**

**"**_**So?**_**" snapped Mrs. Dursley.**

**"Well, I just thought... maybe... it was something to do with... you know... **_**her**_** crowd."**

"Her crowd?" Severus growled, his grip on the book tightening until his fingers turned white.

**Mrs. Dursley sipped her tea through pursed lips. Mr. Dursley wondered whether he dared tell her he'd heard the name "Potter." He decided he didn't dare. Instead he said, as casually as he could, "Their son - he'd be about Dudley's age now, wouldn't he?"**

**"I suppose so," said Mrs. Dursley stiffly.**

**"What's his name again? Howard, isn't it?"**

**"Harry. Nasty, common name, if you ask me."**

"She shouldn't say that! Lily named you after her father who died when she was fifteen. It's a good name, a family name," Sirius said leaning over to hug Harry.

**"Oh, yes," said Mr. Dursley, his heart sinking horribly. "Yes, I quite agree."**

**He didn't say another word on the subject as they went upstairs to bed.** **While Mrs. Dursley was in the bathroom, Mr. Dursley crept to the bedroom window and peered down into the front garden. The cat was still there.** **It was staring down Privet Drive as though it were waiting for something.**

**Was he imagining things? Could all this have anything to do with the Potters? If it did... if it got out that they were related to a pair of - well, he didn't think he could bear it.**

**The Dursleys got into bed. Mrs. Dursley fell asleep quickly but Mr. Dursley lay awake, turning it all over in his mind. His last, comforting thought before he fell asleep was that even if the Potters were involved, there was no reason for them to come near him and Mrs. Dursley. The Potters knew very well what he and Petunia thought about them and their kind... He couldn't see how he and Petunia could get mixed up in anything that might be going on - he yawned and turned over - it couldn't affect them...**

**How very wrong he was.**

"I really wish he had been right."

**Mr. Dursley might have been drifting into an uneasy sleep, but the cat on the wall outside was showing no sign of sleepiness. It was sitting as still as a statue, its eyes fixed unblinkingly on the far corner of Privet Drive. It didn't so much as quiver when a car door slammed on the next street, nor when two owls swooped overhead. In fact, it was nearly midnight before the cat moved at all.**

**A man appeared on the corner the cat had been watching, appeared so suddenly and silently you'd have thought he'd just popped out of the ground. The cat's tail twitched and its eyes narrowed.**

**Nothing like this man had ever been seen on Privet Drive. He was tall, thin, and very old, judging by the silver of his hair and beard, which were both long enough to tuck into his belt. He was wearing long robes, a purple cloak that swept the ground, and high-heeled, buckled boots.** **His blue eyes were light, bright, and sparkling behind half-moon spectacles and his nose was very long and crooked, as though it had been broken at least twice. This man's name was Albus Dumbledore.**

"So he was there, plotting your life from the very beginning?"

**Albus Dumbledore didn't seem to realize that he had just arrived in a street where everything from his name to his boots was unwelcome.** **He was busy rummaging in his cloak, looking for something. But he did seem to realize he was being watched, because he looked up suddenly at the cat, which was still staring at him from the other end of the street. For some reason, the sight of the cat seemed to amuse him. He chuckled and muttered, "I should have known."**

**He found what he was looking for in his inside pocket. It seemed to be a silver cigarette lighter. He flicked it open, held it up in the air, and clicked it. The nearest street lamp went out with a little pop.** **He clicked it again - the next lamp flickered into darkness. Twelve times he clicked the Put-Outer, until the only lights left on the whole street were two tiny pinpricks in the distance, which were the eyes of the cat watching him. If anyone looked out of their window now, even beady-eyed Mrs. Dursley, they wouldn't be able to see anything that was happening down on the pavement. Dumbledore slipped the Put-Outer back inside his cloak and set off down the street toward number four, where he sat down on the wall next to the cat. He didn't look at it, but after a moment he spoke to it.**

**"Fancy seeing you here, Professor McGonagall."**

"Knew it had to be her!" Harry exclaimed, startling the others in the room. Sirius and Remus threw pillows at him only to have them thrown back in their faces.

**He turned to smile at the tabby, but it had gone.** **Instead he was smiling at a rather severe-looking woman who was wearing square glasses exactly the shape of the markings the cat had had around its eyes. She, too, was wearing a cloak, an emerald one. Her black hair was drawn into a tight bun. She looked distinctly ruffled.**

**"How did you know it was me?" she asked.**

**"My dear Professor, I've never seen a cat sit so stiffly."**

**"You'd be stiff if you'd been sitting on a brick wall all day," said Professor McGonagall.**

**"All day? When you could have been celebrating? I must have passed a dozen feasts and parties on my way here." Professor McGonagall sniffed angrily.**

**"Oh yes, everyone's celebrating, all right," she said impatiently.** **"You'd think they'd be a bit more careful, but no - even the Muggles have noticed something's going on. It was on their news." She jerked her head back at the Dursleys' dark living-room window. "I heard it. Flocks of owls... shooting stars... Well, they're not completely stupid. They were bound to notice something. Shooting stars down in Kent - I'll bet that was Dedalus Diggle. He never had much sense."**

**"You can't blame them," said Dumbledore gently. "We've had precious little to celebrate for eleven years."**

**"I know that," said Professor McGonagall irritably. "But that's no reason to lose our heads. People are being downright careless, out on the streets in broad daylight, not even dressed in Muggle clothes, swapping rumors."**

**She threw a sharp, sideways glance at Dumbledore here, as though hoping he was going to tell her something, but he didn't, so she went on. "A fine thing it would be if, on the very day You-Know-Who seems to have disappeared at last, the Muggles found out about us all. I suppose he really has gone, Dumbledore."**

**"It certainly seems so," said Dumbledore. "We have much to be thankful for. Would you care for a lemon drop?"**

**"A what?"**

**"A lemon drop. They're a kind of Muggle sweet I'm rather fond of."**

"He's only fond of them because you can't taste whatever potion he's put in them," Harry said with a scowl. Seeing the questioning looks he was getting from the others Harry added, "I know for a fact that he adds calming potions and composition potions to his lemon drops. It's why I never take them any more."

**"No, thank you," said Professor McGonagall coldly, as though she didn't think this was the moment for lemon drops. "As I say, even if You-Know-Who has gone -"**

**"My dear Professor, surely a sensible person like yourself can call him by his name. All this 'You- Know-Who' nonsense - for eleven years I have been trying to persuade people to call him by his proper name: **_**Voldemort**_**."** **Professor McGonagall flinched, but Dumbledore, who was un-sticking two lemon drops, seemed not to notice. "It all gets so confusing if we keep saying 'You-Know-Who.' I have never seen any reason to be frightened of saying Voldemort's name."**

**"I know you haven't, said Professor McGonagall, sounding half exasperated, half admiring. "But you're different. Everyone knows you're the only one You - Know - oh, all right, **_**Voldemort**_**, was frightened of."**

**"You flatter me," said Dumbledore calmly. "Voldemort had powers I will never have."**

**"Only because you're too - well - noble to use them."**

Cedric gave a small chuckle and said, "No, he doesn't use them because he just manipulates everyone and everything until he gets what he wants."

**"It's lucky it's dark. I haven't blushed so much since Madam Pomfrey told me she liked my new earmuffs."**

Everyone in the room gave a shudder as the five teens shouted out a resounding, "GROSS!"

**Professor McGonagall shot a sharp look at Dumbledore and said, "The owls are nothing next to the rumors that are flying around. You know what everyone's saying? About why he's disappeared? About what finally stopped him?"**

**It seemed that Professor McGonagall had reached the point she was most anxious to discuss, the real reason she had been waiting on a cold, hard wall all day, for neither as a cat nor as a woman had she fixed Dumbledore with such a piercing stare as she did now. It was plain that whatever "everyone" was saying, she was not going to believe it until Dumbledore told her it was true. Dumbledore, however, was choosing another lemon drop and did not answer.**

**"What they're saying," she pressed on, "is that last night Voldemort turned up in Godric's Hollow. He went to find the Potters. The rumor is that Lily and James Potter are - are - that they're - dead. " Dumbledore bowed his head.**

**Professor McGonagall gasped. "Lily and James... I can't believe it... I didn't want to believe it... Oh, Albus..."**

**Dumbledore reached out and patted her on the shoulder. "I know... I know..." he said heavily.**

**Professor McGonagall's voice trembled as she went on. "That's not all. They're saying he tried to kill the Potter's son, Harry. But - he couldn't. He couldn't kill that little boy. No one knows why, or how, but they're saying that when he couldn't kill Harry Potter, Voldemort's power somehow broke - and that's why he's gone."**

**Dumbledore nodded glumly.**

**"It's - it's true." faltered Professor McGonagall. "After all he's done... all the people he's killed... he couldn't kill a little boy. It's just astounding... of all the things to stop him... but how in the name of heaven did Harry survive."**

**"We can only guess," said Dumbledore. "We may never know."**

"LIAR! He knows why, he just doesn't want anyone else to know until it benefits him!" Harry shouted.

Cedric stood from where he was sitting and moved over to Harry. Siting back down he pulled the younger teen into his arms and started to run his fingers through Harry's hair.

**Professor McGonagall pulled out a lace handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes beneath her spectacles.** **Dumbledore gave a great sniff as he took a golden watch from his pocket and examined it. It was a very odd watch. It had twelve hands but no numbers; instead, little planets were moving around the edge.** **It must have made sense to Dumbledore, though, because he put it back in his pocket and said, "Hagrid's late. I suppose it was he who told you I'd be here, by the way."**

**"Yes," said Professor McGonagall. "And I don't suppose you're going to tell me why you're here, of all places."**

**"I've come to bring Harry to his aunt and uncle. They're the only family he has left now."**

**"You don't mean - you can't mean the people who live here." cried Professor McGonagall, jumping to her feet and pointing at number four. "Dumbledore - you can't. I've been watching them all day. You couldn't find two people who are less like us. And they've got this son - I saw him kicking his mother all the way up the street, screaming for sweets. Harry Potter come and live here!"**

**"It's the best place for him," said Dumbledore firmly. "His aunt and uncle will be able to explain everything to him when he's older. I've written them a letter."**

"A LETTER!" The four adults in the room roared in anger.

Draco sneered as he said, "Yes, because a letter will explain everything so well."

**"A letter." repeated Professor McGonagall faintly, sitting back down on the wall. "Really, Dumbledore, you think you can explain all this in a letter. These people will never understand him! He'll be famous - a legend - I wouldn't be surprised if today was known as Harry Potter day in the future** **- there will be books written about Harry - every child in our world will know his name!"**

**"Exactly," said Dumbledore, looking very seriously over the top of his half-moon glasses. "It would be enough to turn any boy's head. Famous before he can walk and talk! Famous for something he won't even remember! Can't you see how much better off he'll be, growing up away from all that until he's ready to take it?"**

"He means until I'm vulnerable enough to make the perfect weapon," Harry mumbled as he snuggled in closer to Cedric.

**Professor McGonagall opened her mouth, changed her mind, swallowed, and then said, "Yes - yes, you're right, of course. But how is the boy getting here, Dumbledore." She eyed his cloak suddenly as though she thought he might be hiding Harry underneath it.**

**"Hagrid's bringing him."**

**"You think it - wise - to trust Hagrid with something as important as this."**

**"I would trust Hagrid with my life," said Dumbledore.**

**"I'm not saying his heart isn't in the right place," said Professor McGonagall grudgingly, "but you can't pretend he's not careless. He does tend to - what was that."**

**A low rumbling sound had broken the silence around them. It grew steadily louder as they looked up and down the street for some sign of a headlight; it swelled to a roar as they both looked up at the sky - and a huge motorcycle fell out of the air and landed on the road in front of them.**

**If the motorcycle was huge, it was nothing to the man sitting astride it. He was almost twice as tall as a normal man and at least five times as wide. He looked simply too big to be allowed, and so wild - long tangles of bushy black hair and beard hid most of his face, he had hands the size of trash can lids, and his feet in their leather boots were like baby dolphins. In his vast, muscular arms he was holding a bundle of blankets.**

**"Hagrid," said Dumbledore, sounding relieved. "At last. And where did you get that motorcycle."**

**"Borrowed it, Professor Dumbledore, sir," said the giant, climbing carefully off the motorcycle as he spoke. "Young Sirius Black lent it to me.** **I've got him, sir."**

"Did you ever get your bike back?" Remus asked as he turned towards Sirius.

"No, Dumblefuck told me that I can't have it because the temptation to fly it would be to much for me to resist," Sirius answered with a frown.

**"No problems, were there?"**

**"No, sir - house was almost destroyed, but I got him out all right before the Muggles started swarmin' around. He fell asleep as we was flyin' over Bristol."**

**Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall bent forward over the bundle of blankets. Inside, just visible, was a baby boy, fast asleep. Under a tuft of jet-black hair over his forehead they could see a curiously shaped cut, like a bolt of lightning.**

**"Is that where -." whispered Professor McGonagall.**

**"Yes," said Dumbledore. "He'll have that scar forever."**

**"Couldn't you do something about it, Dumbledore."**

**"Even if I could, I wouldn't. Scars can come in handy. I have one myself above my left knee that is a perfect map of the London Underground. Well - give him here, Hagrid - we'd better get this over with."**

**Dumbledore took Harry in his arms and turned toward the Dursleys' house.**

**"Could I - could I say good-bye to him, sir." asked Hagrid. He bent his great, shaggy head over Harry and gave him what must have been a very scratchy, whiskery kiss. Then, suddenly, Hagrid let out a howl like a wounded dog.**

**"Shhh!" hissed Professor McGonagall, "you'll wake the Muggles!"**

"Yes, the half giant crying will wake them but the roar of a flying motorcycle won't."

**S-s-sorry," sobbed Hagrid, taking out a large, spotted handkerchief and burying his face in it. "But I c-c-can't stand it - Lily an' James dead - an' poor little Harry off ter live with Muggles -"**

"At least Hagrid really cares."

**"Yes, yes, it's all very sad, but get a grip on yourself, Hagrid, or we'll be found," Professor McGonagall whispered, patting Hagrid gingerly on the arm as Dumbledore stepped over the low garden wall and walked to the front door. He laid Harry gently on the doorstep, took a letter out of his cloak, tucked it inside Harry's blankets, and then came back to the other two. For a full minute the three of them stood and looked at the little bundle; Hagrid's shoulders shook, Professor McGonagall blinked furiously, and the twinkling light that usually shone from Dumbledore's eyes seemed to have gone out.**

**"Well," said Dumbledore finally, "that's that. We've no business staying here. We may as well go and join the celebrations."**

**"Yeah," said Hagrid in a very muffled voice, "I'll be takin' Sirius his bike back. G'night, Professor McGonagall - Professor Dumbledore, sir."**

**Wiping his streaming eyes on his jacket sleeve, Hagrid swung himself onto the motorcycle and kicked the engine into life; with a roar it rose into the air and off into the night.**

**"I shall see you soon, I expect, Professor McGonagall," said Dumbledore, nodding to her. Professor McGonagall blew her nose in reply.**

**Dumbledore turned and walked back down the street. On the corner he stopped and took out the silver Put-Outer. He clicked it once, and twelve balls of light sped back to their street lamps so that Privet Drive glowed suddenly orange and he could make out a tabby cat slinking around the corner at the other end of the street. He could just see the bundle of blankets on the step of number four.**

**"Good luck, Harry," he murmured.** **He turned on his heel and with a swish of his cloak, he was gone.**

**A breeze ruffled the neat hedges of Privet Drive, which lay silent and tidy under the inky sky, the very last place you would expect astonishing things to happen. Harry Potter rolled over inside his blankets without waking up. One small hand closed on the letter beside him and he slept on** **not knowing he was special, not knowing he was famous, not knowing he would be woken in a few hours' time by Mrs. Dursley's scream as she opened the front door to put out the milk bottles, nor that he would spend the next few weeks being prodded and pinched by his cousin Dudley... He couldn't know that at this very moment, people meeting in secret all over the country were holding up their glasses and saying in hushed voices: "To Harry Potter - the boy who lived!"**

Harry let out a disbelieving snort, "Wow, really? Let's take the most important child in our world, leave him udderly defenseless on someones front steps with only a letter to explain why he's there, and then let's leave and going get drunk while we celebrate his parents deaths. If I didn't hate him before, I most definitely do now!"

Cedric wrapped his arms tighter around Harry and leaned in placing a kiss on his forehead before looking at the others and saying, "I think we should get as much reading done tonight as possible. Then tomorrow we can meet in the Room of Requirement and see if it can maybe pause or slow down time so we can read all seven books as quickly as we can."

As soon as Cedric stopped speaking a note fell into Severus's lap. Picking it up Severus read it out loud, "I can't pause time but I can slow it down to a point were a day in my room is only a minute outside of my room. And I want the blonde boy, Draco, to read next."

"Well, that solves that. We'll be going to the Room of Requirement tomorrow and staying there until we finish all the books. We should be able to read through chapter six tonight. Are you all agreeable to this plan?"

When Severus received eight nods in the affirmative he passed the book to Draco who opened it to the correct page and was about to start reading when he remembered something. "I know this isn't the best time to ask but, what's a drill?"

Harry laughed for a second before answering, "A drill is a long pointed piece of metal that is held in a machine and rotated at high speed to bore holes in hard substances such as wood, metal, masonry, or rock. And before you ask, a machine is a tool that consists of one or more parts, and uses energy to achieve a particular goal. Now, onward with the reading of my life."

"**Chapter Two, The Vanishing Glass . . . "**

* Page Break * Page Break * Page Break * Page Break *

A.N. - I know, I know. It's been forever. Sorry. Every time I started to work on this chapter my mom would tell me I have something to do or my computer would turn itself off to update. -_- I'm going to change the way I update this story. I'm not going to update until I have eight chapters done and then I'll post a chapter a day for eight days; and I'll do twice and be done with the first book. With the other six books I'm going to wait to post until I have the whole thing finished and then I'll post a chapter a day. Thank you for your reviews, favorites, and follows.

Blessed Be,

Angel Jin


End file.
